National Geographic has launched it's 2016 Nature Photographer of the Year contest. The categories for this year are Landscape, Environmental Issues, Action and Animal Portraits. The winner will receive a 10-day trip for two at the Galápagos Islands with National Geographic Expeditions, along with two 15-minute portfolio reviews with the photo editors at National Geographic. Submissions close on 4 November.
IBTimesUK takes a look at a selected number of images the competition has received so far:
War Horses: "I had just arrived and found a small herd of these beautiful Colorado wild horses in their high desert environment, and set up my tripod to shoot what I thought would be peaceful grazing horses. Then, as if on cue, this pair started pawing the ground, and reared up and attacked each other"Cheryl Tyson/ 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearLava Ocean Entry: "Lava ocean entry from the 2016 Kalapana lava flow on the Big Island of Hawaii"Mason Lake/ 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearBuffalo Mud Bath: "An African Buffalo full of mud late in the afternoon in the Masai Mara, Kenya"Chris Schmid/ 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearLucky Strike: "I stopped in Marana to photograph this beautiful rainbow and the lightning bolt came crashing down within minutes of setting up"Greg McCown/ 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearThe frozen pond with snow: The ìBlue Pondî in Hokkaido Biei-choKent Shiraishi/ 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearConfrontation: "A White-tailed eagle swoops in on a Hokkaido red fox to set it straight for stealing a fish on frozen Lake Fuhren in Hokkaido, Japan. The fox escaped with the fish"Karen Prisby/ 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearTerritorial Hippo: "Taken during a photographic safari in Chobe River, Botswana when the water levels are high and herds of hippopotamus share the tributaries. This one in particular was very territorial and liked to mock charge whenever our boat passed his patch of the river on our daily outings"Sam Kurtul/ 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearConfrontation: "Lioness refuses the advances of the male during a prolonged courtship under a light rain in the Masai Mara, Kenya"Chris Schmid/ 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearTeam Work: "The current population of African wild dogs has been estimated at roughly 39 sub-populations containing 6,600 adults, only 1,400 of which are fully grown. We found this pack of dogs early in the morning. They were looking to make a kill, but unfortunately for them this giraffe was a way to big..."Chris Schmid/ 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearFrom above:. "Aerial Image (shot from a plane at 1,500 feet) shows waste from a paper mill that has been agitated by aerators, producing steam and foam that has been pushed by the wind in Clearwater Paper Reservoire, Lewiston, Idaho"Jassen T/ 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearIceberg: Iceberg in Ilulissat, Greenland. "The iceberg has been calved off of Jakobshavn, Greenland's fastest moving glacier: It traveled through the Ilulissat Icefjord and eventually became stranded in Disko Bay. As the arctic is warming at incredible rates this glacier drains 6.5% of the Greenland ice sheet and produces roughly 10% of all of Greenland's icebergs"Barbara MacFerrin/ 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearMediterranean Jelly: "Cotylorhiza Tuberculata, aka Mediterranean Jelly aka Fried Egg Jelly, is pretty common throughout the Mediterranean Sea"Stefano Spezi/ 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearThe path less trodden: A polar bear walks onHarry Lyndon-Skeggs/ 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearLighting Up The Galaxy: "A time-lapse frame taken at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse"Mike Zorger: 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the YearFrom the shadows: "Hiking with the local guides, we stumbled upon this mountain gorilla peering curiously from the depths of the Impenetrable Forest"Harry Lyndon-Skeggs/ 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
